Promise
by TorquesAngel
Summary: "I've been in a relationship and it kind of went bad... I need someone to trust, I've been hurt before and... I don't want to get hurt in the end. Can I trust you?" She looked up in his deep blue eyes, and nodded. "I promise... I won't ever hurt you."


**Promise**

"I've been in a relationship and it kind of went bad... I need someone to trust, I've been hurt before and... I don't want to get hurt in the end... Can I trust you?" She looked up in his deep blue eyes, and nodded. "I won't ever hurt you... I promise."

**A/N: The sequel to "Yesterday" a one-shot included in ChrisBreezy's one-shot collection, F.A.M.E: Forgiving All My Enemies. It was a one-shot requested by The-Next-LaDainian-Tomlinson, based on his real life experience, and reading it brought a stunning revelation upon me, so I just had to write him this you know? :) **

**K, Do I really need to explain? Just read, and let the one-shot do the explaining for you. :) **

* * *

**From the man himself, The-Next-LaDainian-Tomlinson21:  
**

_I'm different. Compared to most guys living in New Jersey, I'm extremely different from the rest of them. Like John here, I am a gentlemen. I was taught and raised to treat women with the utmost respect. That's just how I am, how I was raised, and that's what I am composed of today. I met a girl like Maria, who thought I was nice and sweet, it seemed like yesterday I felt really happy, until I found out she was cheating. Her mate, at least her other mate, told me like Randy did... I was too much of a wimp for her. I shrugged it off at first, but it hurt. It hurt me to see that she looked at me that way, after all that we've been through. __But that was the past now, I'm just glad I finally found someone who likes me for who I am. _  


* * *

___Previously...  
_

"_Maria?" _

_Maria, startled, brought her eyes to John, who only shook his head in disbelief and then walked out. "Wait John! Please! Let me explain…" _

"_Explain what? That your confusion is all cleared out now huh?" _

"_Well… I…" _

"_What is it Maria? Tell me, because you should've told me earlier instead of me falling so hard for you and come to find out you are cheating with him! Randy Orton. You know I can't stand him, Maria. You know I can't." John fought. _

"_Well, Johnny boy…" Randy stepped out from the house. "You're not man enough for Maria here. You see, she wanted some action. Bad boy action. And what she had going on with you, well, it didn't satisfy her. Isn't that right Maria?" Randy asked her. _

"_Is this true?" John asked her. Maria, shamefully, shook her head yes. "Yes, John. It is, but please… don't take it the wrong way… it wasn't you… honestly… it was only me… please John, I'm sorry…" _

"_You know what Maria, you're forgiven.. but I'm sorry…" _

_It was safe to say the Maria was definitely confused now. "For what?" _

"_I'm sorry I had to fall in love with you." Just then, he walked off… leaving Maria to herself. _

_John sat outside his home, __staring up at the stars, counting the reasons why he did what he did, why he permanently had to let go of his feelings and move on with his life_.

"_Yesterday, I fell in love. But today… feels like my funeral."_

* * *

John sat in a bar with a wine cup in front of him. He was depressed, the woman he thought he loved, the woman he thought he could trust, broke his heart, cheated on him... and with Randy Orton nonetheless. The bartender approached him, when John pushed the cup forward.

"Another shot."

Nodding his head, the bartender took the cup and filled it up with the perfect medicine for all John's pain, at least, so he thought... alcohol. Vodka, Beer, Martini. Everything in this bar, was perfect... perfect to drown the pain, wash it all away with just a couple of drinks.

He placed the cup down, and sighed. "Rough night?"

"My girlfriend... or at least... my ex girlfriend... cheated on me." John mumbled. "Tough luck kid. Don't get your spirits all down though, that girl's out there for ya, somewhere. It's not worth drowning your troubles away with these drinks."

John looked up to meet the eyes of the bartender. "Why do you even care? You should be happy, after all, you're making loads of money off my depression."

"Touche." The bartender whipped his rag out and started to dry some wine cups. "But the fact that I have to stand here and be a supplier to someone's pain, whether it's waking up wasted, or using alcohol as a beacon for your depression, giving yourself 2x the pain... it's not sitting well with me."

John nodded. "Nice to know that you aren't exactly obliged to do that. But then again, you are just doing your job. I must ask though, why won't you quit?"

"As much as it pains me to say this, it does make good money, and I need it... especially with the economy being flushed down the toilets."

"True." Strange as it may sound, John actually find it quite comforting to talk to the bartender. "I'm John."

"The name's Adam. Trust me when I say this, John. You need to wake up. You can't keep hiding yourself behind alcohol, no matter how much you think it will help take the pain away." Adam told his customer, and perhaps his new found friend.

"You're right... I guess."

The sound of the small bell ringing throughout the bar, signaled that a new customer has arrived. A small brunette approached the counter. "Hey Mickie." Adam greeted the brunette.

"Hey Adam, you know the drill."

"The usual of course." Adam nodded when he went to work on getting up a martini for the brunette. Mickie turned to her left, and set her sights on John. "Let me guess... relationship trouble?"

"No, more like the ending of a relationship." John mumbled. "Ah, I see. Look, I'm no Cupid, but... you still have a chance at love."

"I know, I just can't get over it. I thought she loved me, I really thought.. that she was the one for me." John explained to her. Mickie twisted her hair, curling it, playing with it. "Hmm... thought huh?"

"What about it?"

"You have to know that she loves you. You have to know that that one special woman, is the one. I mean, come on, if you walk around thinking that she's right for you, you're going to end up getting stepped on in the end. I don't mean it that way, trust me... it's just... a man's got to have a sense of authority in a relationship, give the girl confidence, make her believe in you... and maybe she just might stick around for a while." Mickie told him.

John smirked. "No Cupid huh?"

"No, not really. I just know from past relationships." Mickie shrugged taking a sip from her cup. "I just hate to see guys like you mope around like this."

"You do?"

"Well yeah, you're a good looking guy, you look like you have a lot going for yourself. You're just wasting your time moping around like this really. If you really want to get back in the game, you just have to move on. That's the first step."

John stood up straight. "Alright, if that's the case... who exactly am I going to start with?" John asked her. Mickie giggled. "Well I don't know... maybe someone closer than you think." Mickie took out a piece of paper, writing her number down, and handing it over to John.

John took the card, and nodded. "Okay, Mickie." He read off the card, "I'll be sure to give you a call."

"Looking forward to it." Mickie smiled before finishing off the rest of her drink, and tossing it over to Adam. "Take care of that for me, will ya?" She smiled before she skipped her way out of the bar.

Adam walked over to retrieve the cup, looking over at John. "I see someone's a little interested."

John nodded. Truthfully, he'd be lying if he said Mickie didn't give him the confidence to get over this pain, get over Maria. As a matter of fact, the entire conversation he shared with Mickie lifted him to spirits, lighten him up, and now he couldn't remove the small brunette from his mind.

She's smart, intelligent, as a matter of fact. She's so down to Earth, young, beautiful and a classy woman indeed... as she seems to take relationships very seriously from what he heard.

"I'm not going to lie. She got me hooked. I didn't think she could do it, but she actually drew my attention away from Maria..."

"You're crazy if you don't call her." Adam simply said. "Yeah," John nodded when he stood up and made his way out of the bar. "Go get her man!" Adam called out when John jogged out to search for the Richmond native. He looked around, and spotted her waiting for the bus, at a bus stop.

He jogged across the street, to meet the brunette. "Hey! Mickie, wait up!"

She smiled when she stood in front of John, huffing and puffing, after running to chase her. "You ran all the way here to see me huh?"

John laughed. "Yeah, I did actually. But damn, you're fast. I thought you would've took off home... I didn't think you were out here, waiting for the bus... all by yourself."

"What? A girl can't wait for the bus, all by herself?" Mickie asked with an eyebrow perched. "Not when it's dark like this."

Mickie smiled. "How sweet. Very kind of you to watch over me."

"So Mickie... I was thinking... would you... like to... I don't know..." John stumbled. _Wow, what is wrong with me? I've never acted like this before... at least... not toward a woman. _John snapped out of his thoughts, when he found that Mickie was giggling at him.

"Dinner? I suppose?" Mickie giggled. "Yeah, Dinner. That's... what I was going to say."

"I'm sure you were." Mickie giggles when she sees that the bus pulls up. "I'd love to, actually. You can come up with any place you want, any time... just give me a call, and let me know okay?"

"Yeah. So it's a date?" John asked her.

"It's a date." Mickie winked before getting on the bus, signalling to John, reminding him to call her.

* * *

John took a step inside his apartment, taking a deep breath, reviewing what transpired throughout this entire night. His girlfriend, Maria Kanellis, dumped him... for Randy Orton. The guy he hates... so much. Heartbroken, he goes to a bar where he gets a pep talk from a bartender, a possible new friend in the making, and meets a beautiful, classy woman, who, after cheering him up, agrees to go on a date with him.

He was taking a risk... a huge one at that. He wanted to get over Maria, and the only way he could do that is if he'd go on a date with Mickie, see how she makes him feel, and once Maria was out of the picture... he could look to pursue things with Mickie... perhaps a lot further than just one date.

He wanted to pace himself, it was already fast enough how, after breaking up with his girlfriend, he already got a date.

A week. That's it, he'd wait one week, give himself some time... and then go on a date with Mickie. But he won't stop there though, he'd have to make sure to keep in contact with Mickie of course, and use this time to get to know her.

That's it. That's what he'll do.

He looked down at his cellphone. It's getting late, and it wouldn't feel right to call Mickie at this hour. And so, he'd have to wait until tomorrow.

He lied himself down on bed and couldn't bare to remove the image, of Mickie James from his mind...

* * *

**The Next Day...  
**

**Phone call... **

_***phone rings***  
_

_"Hello?"  
_

_"Hey Mickie, it's me, John."  
_

_"Oh hey, John. What's up? Thought anything about our little date?"  
_

_"Well, it's Sunday. And I want to wait until the weekend, at least, Friday night so we can get together for a bite. Does that sound good?"  
_

_"Sounds great. What time?"  
_

_"I'll pick you up at 8. And as for the restaurant, well, that'll be a surprise."  
_

_"I love surprises. I'm looking forward to it, John."  
_

_"Same here."  
_

_"I'll see you on Friday at 8."  
_

_"You too."  
_

**_*dial tone*__  
_**

* * *

The next few hours, neither Mickie, nor John didn't hesitate to keep in touch until their upcoming, face to face date on Friday night. They talk on Facebook IM chat, oovoo video/IM chat, tweeting each other on Twitter, you name it, they were there, chatting it up.

The following week went by so fast, by the time John got off of his computer, it was already time for his date.

And not much to his surprise, just as he said, Maria was no where near his mind at all.

* * *

There was a knock at the door, when Mickie approached to answer it with a sexy black leather lace dress on, along with black pumps to match. She opened the door, and there stood John with a black tux on, looking as handsome as ever.

"Looking Sharp." Mickie smiled at her date, fixing John's tie. "Thanks, and you look... wow."

"Why thank you." Mickie took hold of his hand as the couple made their way to their fancy limousine awaiting them.

**The Date...**

The start of the date was pretty simple, it started off with the basics, such as, "Hey, how are you?" and started from there. With a good start, the couple would find themselves, joking and laughing with each other casually bonding very well with each other.

It was going well, when Mickie asked about John's past relationship. "I don't mean to... you know, offend you in any way... but I'm curious... how did one idiot girl, cheat on such a great guy like you John?" Mickie asked him. John sighed.

"Well, we were watching a movie, and we both fell asleep. When I woke up, Maria, was gone. When I went after her, I found out she was at her house, cheating on me with some guy named Randy Orton. I don't like him, I never have. And come to find out that Maria was cheating on me with the guy I despised so much. It broke my heart..." John shook his head.

"Come to find out... I was too 'nice' for her. She didn't want a gentlemen, she wanted a bad boy. A bad guy like Randy Orton."

"Huh..." Mickie thought for a moment, taking all of this in for a second. "What?"

"Nothing, I just had something quite similar happen to me before. My ex broke up with me because I was too classy. He just wanted a slut who would give him constant sex all the time. I don't understand why guys just think that they can easily get into a girls pants... like I'm not that type of girl to be easily taken advantage of, not that kind of girl who just throws herself at men. Love... is love... love is beautiful. It's not supposed to be... dirty and just all about sex."

"That's right, that's right." John nodded. Mickie stared at John and smiled. "You know, John, you're a good guy. There's always that one few bunch of guys, who are gentlemen. I'm just happy that I finally found one. I mean, for me, it's been really tough. Because I've been with guys... who try to take love seriously... but fail at the end. You seem to have that drive, that determination, to make it go all the way." Mickie told him.

"So you're confident in me?" John asked with a smirk on his face. Mickie laughed. "Yes, yes, I am. I really am. Because I really do like you, John. I like you a lot."

"I like you too, Mickie. You're... different."

The sky grew dark, when John looked up, and realized the night was growing a little cold. "We should probably head home. It's getting dark out."

**A little night stroll... **

****John and Mickie walked hand in hand, when the night, again went really cold. John, realizing just how cold it was and that Mickie was jacket-free. He took off his jacket, and handed it over to Mickie. "Here, take my jacket, it's cold out."

Mickie smiled at took hold of it. "Thanks John."

"No problem."

They walked along the sidewalks, when John began to admire the beauty of the moon. "It's cold out, but... it's beautiful out here. The moon at least..."

"Yeah, I love it. It is beautiful."

Silence. It was a long walk, to take up time, Mickie actually took the time to ask John about a second date. "Hey, John, my family and I are actually having a barbecue... this Sunday... and... I'm actually wondering if you could come over and hang out, meet everyone."

"That sounds nice. I'd love to come."

"Cool."

It took a while, but the couple actually finally found themselves standing in front of Mickie's apartment. "Mickie..." John managed to breath out. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, I know I said this but... I really like you. I like you a lot, it's just... I don't know... I..."

"It's alright, John. You can talk to me."

"It's just... like I said... I've been in a relationship and it kind of went bad... I need someone to trust, I've been hurt before and... I don't want to get hurt in the end... Can I trust you?" John asked her. He needed to know, he needed to know for sure, that he could fully trust a woman, before pursuing a relationship with Mickie.

She looked up in his deep blue eyes, leaned in and kissed him, it wasn't no lip-lock or anything, just a sweet peck on the lips. She broke away and nodded at him. "I won't ever hurt you, John."

"_I promise..." _

* * *

__**This is the longest one-shot, I ever written, and K, you can obviously see why. This one-shot here, well, at least the dialogue was inspired by a realistic event that, I myself, and The Next LaDainian Tomlinson, experienced. I hope you like it, K, same goes for everyone else. Please review, and give me your thoughts. :)**


End file.
